The president of the United States, Donald Trump, deployed on Monday the Military and Federal Police to stop the violent crime in Washington, while seeking to fulfill his campaign promise to be a president of “Law and Order.”
The Republican leader said he would place the city’s Metropolitan Police under the control of the federal government and at the same time sent the National Guard to the streets of the capital of the United States.
The overwhelming and democratic city faces accusations of Republican politicians who are invaded by crime, plagued by homeless and poorly managed, although violent crimes have decreased.
“This is the day of release in DC, and we are going to recover our capital,” Trump said.
Trump, a convict that granted general clemency to almost 1,600 people involved in the disturbance of the United States Capitol in 2021 in Washington, has complained that the local police and prosecutors are not hard enough.
He said that 800 national DC guards, “and much more if necessary,” they would deploy in the city of 700,000.
While Trump spoke at the White House, several dozen protesters gathered outside.
“There is absolutely no need for the National Guard here,” said 62 -year -old retiree Elizabeth Critchley, who soft a sign with the slogan “DC says that freedom not fascism.”
“Everything is for the show. It’s just a great theater,” he said.
The Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegesh, who was among several cabinet officials who flanks Trump, said that “other specialized units” of the National Guard could also be deployed.
“They will be strong, they will be hard and will be with their partners of application of the law,” he said.
The new approach echoes Trump’s immigration policies that have effectively sealed the southern border amid mass deportations while displaying active service troops against protesters in Los Angeles.
New York, next Chicago?
The president told reporters that he planned to implement politics to other cities, highlighting New York and Chicago.
Unlike 50 states, Washington operates under a unique relationship with the federal government that limits its autonomy and gives Congress extraordinary control over local matters.
Since the mid -1970s, the Law of the Interior rule has allowed residents to choose a mayor and a municipal council, although Congress still controls the city budget.
Washington police data show significant falls in violent crime between 2023 and 2024, although that came out of the back of an increase after the pandemic.
Trump posted on social networks before the press conference that also wants to address camps for homeless people, after signing an order last month, which facilitates the arrest of homeless.
He promised people “places to stay”, but “far from the capital.” Trump said criminals would be imprisoned and that everything would happen “very fast.”
The Federal Police has already increased its presence after a former efficiency employee of the Government Department was hit during an attempt to theft of cars.
“Last week, my administration increased 500 federal agents in the district, even from the FBI, ATF, DEA, the Park Police, the US Sheriff Service, the Secret Service and the National Security Department,” Trump said.
“You know many nations, they have nothing like that … They made dozens of arrests.”
A Gallup survey in October found that 64 percent of Americans believed that the crime had increased in 2024, although FBI data shows the lowest levels of violent crimes throughout the country in more than half a century.
“Let me be crystalline: the crime in DC is finishing, and is ending today,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The historical trial begins with the use of Trump’s US army in the surveillance role
Separately, a historical judgment begins on the use of the National Guard forces by the Trump administration to support their deportation efforts and to quell the protests in Los Angeles, in a legal challenge for the rest of the president of the United States of long -standing rules against the deployment of troops in the US streets.
The non -jury trial of three days before the American district judge based in San Francisco, Charles Breyer, will determine if the government violated a law of the nineteenth century that prohibits the military of the application of the civil law when Trump deployed the troops in June, as the State of California affirms in his legal challenge.
Los Angeles experienced days of disturbances and protests caused by mass immigration raids in places where people gather to find work, such as Home Depot stores, a clothing factory and a warehouse.
The administration denies that the troops were used in the application of the civil law and plans to demonstrate that they were protecting federal immigration and customs agents (ICE).
Many of the troops have been withdrawn, but California Attorney, Rob Bonta, said on Monday that 300 members of the National Guard are still in immigration raids and restricting civil movements in the state.
“The federal government deployed military troops in the streets of Los Angeles for the purposes of political theater and public intimidation,” said Bonta in a statement. “This dangerous movement is not precedent in the history of the United States.”
California and Gavin Newsom, the state’s democratic governor, have asked Breyer to prohibit troops to participate directly in national activities for the application of the law. California and Newsom say that the National Guard is accompanying ICE agents in the raids and attending arrests, in violation of the POSSE Commitatus Law of 1878 and other laws that prohibit the US army from participating in the application of civil law.
The Republican president ordered 700 Marines and 4,000 National Guard troops to Los Angeles in June against Newsom’s wishes. California’s demand finally seeks a ruling that returns to his national guard troops to state control and a statement that Trump’s action was illegal.
However, the trial before Breyer will have a limited impact on Trump’s plan to deploy hundreds of national guard troops to Washington.
A ruling against the administration could restrict the actions of these troops and restrict Trump if he displays such forces to monitor other US cities.
Trump said his efforts to combat crime will go beyond Washington, and mentioned Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Baltimore.
Trump’s decision to send troops to Los Angeles caused a national debate on the use of military on American soil and inflamed political tensions in the second most popular American city.
A United States Court of Appeals has allowed Trump to retain the control of the California National Guard during the legal challenge.
